Deception
by Tsarina Torment
Summary: Sasuke isn't the only survivor of the Uchiha massacre, but he doesn't know it.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (If I did Itachi would still be alive!)**

Screams from outside. Shouts amid the sound of weapons clashing. Fugaku was furious. He didn't know what was going on, why I wouldn't let him outside to see. But I knew. A mother always knows. Death would come to us; we didn't need to go to him.

Everything fell silent. It was done. They were all dead. Footsteps inside the house. The door to the room we sat in slid open and he stood there, my beautiful boy. He was covered in the blood of his clansmen, but to me he'll always be beautiful. His bloodstained katana was in his hand, his hand that looks still at a glance, but I knew there was a slight quiver. He wasn't as calm as he appeared.

"Itachi! What's going on?" Fugaku demanded. "Who attacked us? Are they dead?"

He didn't reply.

"Is it our turn now?" I asked, knowing that it was. He nodded slightly.

"Our turn for what?" Fugaku said. Itachi looked at him. The expression was supposed to be scornful, I knew, but I could see the sorrow behind the mask.

"To die," he said.

Fugaku's expression went from confused to furious.

"You! You did this? You attacked our clan?" he shouted.

"Are we the last?" I asked, again knowing the answer before it was spoken.

"No. I haven't killed Sasuke," he said. The lack of a 'yet' on the end of the sentence filled me with hope. He wouldn't kill his brother. My two beautiful boys would survive.

There was no more talking. His crimson blade flashed and Fugaku crumpled, lifeless. I met my boy's eyes and smiled at him. Letting him know that I forgave him for what he had done and was about to do. The blade flashed again and I closed my eyes, but there was no pain. I opened my eyes and looked down to see the blade, quivering, just short of my chest. Looking up at Itachi, I could see tears rolling down his cheeks. Silent tears, all he ever cried. He cleaned the blade and sheathed it.

"I… I can't," he sobbed, more to himself than me. "I can't kill you."

"You have to," I said gently. "It's your mission." He looked at me, eyes red from crying, not the Sharingan. He didn't ask how I knew.

"Your jutsu," he said. I looked at him in puzzlement. "Your corpse summoning. You can… you can modify it to look like you…" I stood and embraced my son.

"And after that?" I asked him. "What happens after I fake my death?"

"We run away," he said. "I'll take you to Tsunami's house. She'll understand…"

"And what about you and Sasuke?" I asked.

"Sasuke stays here," he said. "He'll be safer here than anywhere else. I've made a deal with Lord Hokage so he'll be looked after."

"And you?" I pressed.

"I'll be a criminal," he reminded me. "Madara wants me to join his organisation, Akatsuki. If I do, then I'll be able to gather information on how Sasuke's doing."

I smiled at him before summoning a corpse and giving it some of my DNA. As far as anyone else would be concerned, it was me.

As I dropped the corpse on top of Fugaku, I heard Sasuke shouting for us. Itachi went pale.

"Hide," he said. I didn't argue. But before I went into the deepest shadows of the room, I reached up and wiped the tears away from Itachi's face. It wouldn't have done for Sasuke to see that his brother had been crying.

I didn't pay much attention to what Itachi said and did to his brother. I didn't want to know. After a time they both ran out the room. Sasuke was crying and I wanted to comfort him, but I couldn't. Sometime later, Itachi came back. His headband was no longer central – it seemed as though Sasuke had knocked it off and Itachi hadn't put it back on straight. He was crying freely and I embraced him. When he eventually calmed down, I took off his headband and kissed his forehead gently before trying to replace the protector. He stopped me and drew a kunai. As I watched, shocked, he carved a scratch through the leaf symbol. His fingers were trembling as he tried to put it back on. Carefully, I slipped it out of his shaky grip and put it back on him, making sure that it was straight.

He decided that I'd done enough fussing. We walked out of the house, never to return and carefully made our way out of the back of the village. Itachi didn't want me to be seen. We walked past Sasuke and I paused. If everything went smoothly, I'd never see him again, either. He was unconscious, and I knew how much it must have hurt Itachi to do that to him. The boy standing next to me refused to look at his brother. With difficulty, I walked away and we left the village.

We walked in silence. I never attempted to break that silence as I knew Itachi was trying to come to terms with what he'd done. His eyes were still red, even though he had deactivated his Sharingan when we'd left. He was exhausted, mentally as well as physically. The forests around Konoha were dangerous at night, so I'd taken some of Itachi's kunai so I wasn't so vulnerable.

The journey was uneventful until we arrived in the Land of Waves. Itachi and I headed straight for my cousin's house. Tsunami was six years younger than me, and happily married, or so I thought. I hadn't heard from her for years. When I knocked on her front door, the first thing I thought was _will she let me live with her? Will she even recognise me?_

"Mikoto?" the younger woman gasped as she opened the door. It appeared that my fears were unfounded. She knew who I was. "What..? Why are you here..?" I opened my mouth to answer but before I could say anything there was a thump beside me. Turning in surprise, I realised that Itachi had collapsed.

"Can we come in?" I asked. She nodded and helped me to carry my son indoors. Before I could explain anything, she told me to take care of Itachi. We put him on a spare bed and I took off his headband before examining him. He was ill – even without my medic training I would have been able to see that. Because I **was** a fully trained medic, it didn't take me long to realise that there was nothing I could do to cure it, but I could minimise its effects. The disease would get progressively worse and eventually kill him. I assumed it was a result of what he had done – his heart was literally breaking. I did what I could with the minimal resources available at that time of the night.

Once I was done, Tsunami lent me some nightclothes and told me to sleep.

"You can explain in the morning," she told me sternly. "Bed."

I did as I was told.

* * *

When I woke up, my first reaction was that I wasn't in my own bed. That puzzled me slightly, until I remembered the events of the previous night. Itachi had been ordered to kill the clan and he had. Itachi… I bolted upright. He was ill! Still in my nightclothes, I went to the room he lay in and sat next to him. His hair was still in that familiar ponytail. Smiling sadly, I eased the hairband out of his tangled hair and started the long task of unknotting it.

Tsunami quietly entered the room and smiled.

"Mollycoddling your son?" she asked. "Can't he look after himself?" I knew she was joking.

Just then, Itachi woke. He attempted to sit up, but Tsunami and I stopped him.

"Rest, just for **once** in your life," I told him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You fainted," Tsunami told him. "So. Why are you here?" she asked both of us. Itachi closed his eyes and tried to speak, but I muffled him. There was no way I was going to let him talk about it.

"Our clan was killed last night," I explained. "We've got nowhere to go."

Itachi tried to move my hand.

"Why won't you let Itachi speak?" my cousin asked, forcing me to move my hand.

"I did it," Itachi told her. Her eyes widened.

"What?" she gasped. I sighed and put my hand back over his mouth.

"He blames himself," I said. "For a while now, the Uchiha Clan had been plotting a coup d'état because the village was effectively imprisoning them. The elders found out recently and gave Itachi, as head of the ANBU, a mission…"

"… to kill the clan?" Tsunami guessed. I nodded.

"But he didn't kill you," she said.

"I couldn't," Itachi muttered around my hand. "I couldn't kill Sasuke either."

"But they think I'm dead," I said. "And they mustn't – **Sasuke** mustn't – find out that I'm still alive."

"So you're a criminal now," she said, addressing Itachi. He nodded.

"Can I talk to Itachi alone?" I asked Tsunami. She nodded and left.

"What is it, Mother?" he asked.

"You're ill," I told him.

"How bad is it?" he asked, accepting it.

"At the moment, not too bad, but it can't be cured and, eventually, it'll kill you," I said quietly.

"How long do I have?" he asked.

"If we don't do anything, about five years, but I might be able to lengthen your time," I told him.

"I'm not afraid of dying," he said.

"I know. But I'm scared of losing you," I said, holding him tightly.

Just then, a little boy ran into the room. He ran up to me, then stopped as he realised that he didn't know me.

"Inari!" Tsunami said sternly. "Stop running around." She turned to me and Itachi. "I'm sorry," she said. "He doesn't listen to me much."

"Like Sasuke," Itachi muttered. I smiled.

"I know what it's like," I said. "Even this one disobeyed me when he was that age."

"Mother!" Itachi protested. I laughed.

"It's just a phase little children go through, that's all. He'll grow out of it."

"Eventually," Itachi added.

"Who are you?" Inari asked me curiously. "Why do you look like my Mummy?"

"She's my cousin, Mikoto," Tsunami told him. "And that's your cousin Itachi."

"Mikoto and Itachi," the little boy repeated. "Cousins." Tsunami picked him up.

"Breakfast's ready," she told us. Itachi and I stood and made our way to the kitchen. Tazuna was already there.

"Hello, Mikoto," he said. "So which one's this? Itachi or Sasuke?"

"Itachi," Tsunami said.

"Forgive me. I haven't seen you since you were quite small," the bridge builder said.

Itachi shrugged and sat down at the table. Tsunami put some food in front of him which he ate in silence.

Thankfully, Tazuna didn't take offence that. I supposed that, like me, he could tell that Itachi was still tired. Everyone says that shinobi can go for days without sleep. That's true, but Itachi was emotionally exhausted, not physically. I sat down next to him and ate my food, talking to my cousins and learning about what they'd been up to. I was shocked to discover that Tsunami's husband, Safaia, had died just after Inari was born.

Once we'd all eaten, I went over to the sink to help Tsunami wash up. When I turned to look at Itachi, I saw that he was quietly talking to Tazuna – or rather, Tazuna was doing most of the talking while Itachi listened and offered the occasional comment.

Once we'd finished, Itachi came up to us.

"I think it's time I went," he said. I smiled sadly.

"Where are you going?" Tsunami asked.

"I've been told to find someone and join a criminal organisation called Akatsuki," Itachi said. "He'll get suspicious if I don't turn up soon."

"You don't have to-" Tsunami said.

"Yes I do," Itachi interrupted. "I said that I would, and he's holding me to that. Sasuke'll be in danger if I don't."

I took hold of his arm and excused myself before walking outside with him.

"That disease won't stay suppressed," I told him. "You've **got** to come back from time to time so I can patch you up." He nodded and turned to go. I looked at him and laughed. "You really are tired, aren't you," I observed. He looked at me, puzzled. "Wait here." I went indoors and picked up his discarded headband and hairband, which he'd forgotten. When I went outside, I panicked because I couldn't see him. Then I relaxed as I realised that he was sitting at the end of the jetty. I knelt down behind him and tied his hair up. He didn't move until I finished, then he turned to face me. I kissed his forehead before putting his headband on him. I couldn't look at it because I knew that the scratch would make me tear up.

"Goodbye, Mother," he said.

"Goodbye," I said. "Look after yourself and stay safe." He was all I had left. Sasuke was different. I could never see him again. Itachi was my only link to the clan. He stood and did something that he hadn't done for years. He hugged me. He was my only link, and I was his only link. We only had each other.

Eventually, he released me and walked away. He didn't look back. I couldn't blame him. He was fragile – more fragile than anyone else had ever realised. Fugaku had encouraged him to be a strong shinobi and to be emotionless, but that had only weakened him inside. Once I could no longer see Itachi, I went back into the house.

That was when it sunk in. I was alone. My clan was dead, apart from my sons, one of which I'd never see again while the other was slowly being torn up inside by guilt and disease. Only the day before, I'd been enjoying my life with my family, until it was torn away from me.

I was a trained Jounin. Retired, it was true, but still a fully trained Jounin. That didn't stop the tears from flowing. Tsunami walked up to me and put her arms around my shoulders. She almost knew what it was like, after Safaia's death. Almost. She still had her son and father.

Even Inari came over to me and tried to comfort me. He reminded me of Sasuke, even though he was five years younger than my son.

It took a while, but eventually I adapted to my new life as a civilian in the Land of Waves.

* * *

Nearly a year later, a 'stranger' came to town. Most people didn't know who he was, but I did. Itachi was back. He didn't look any different to the last time that I saw him, except he was slightly older and taller. In fact, he was a few centimetres taller than me, although last time I saw him he was my height.

Tsunami immediately let him in when he knocked on the door. There were whispers from people nearby when they saw his scratched headband, but they quickly died when our neighbours realised that he was my son.

He was wearing the same clothes that he had been last time I saw him, and, aside from a ring on his right ring finger, there was nothing to suggest that he had joined any organisation.

"How are you, Itachi?" Tsunami asked.

"I'm OK," he said. I smiled. He was obviously here because his disease was worsening, but his pride wouldn't let him admit that. I dragged him into my bedroom so I could talk to him in private.

"How much worse is it?" I asked.

"My stamina's decreasing," he said, sitting down on my bed. I sighed and laid a hand on his chest so I could find out for myself.

I was right. He was quite a bit worse than the last time I'd seen him. I channelled my medical ninjutsu into him, trying to encourage the illness to recede slightly. It did, a bit.

"You should be OK for a while," I told him. "I'll get some medication ready for you next time you come."

He treated me to one of his half-smiles.

"You have so much faith that I'm not going to get killed before then," he said. It was Itachi's version of a joke.

"Of course you won't be," I told him. "Stop being so negative." I looked at his hair. It was a **mess**. He probably hadn't redone it since he'd left. I gently teased the hairband out of his hair, like I did a year previously and started to unknot it. Itachi sighed, but didn't stop me.

"You don't have to do that," was all that he said.

"I'm your mother," I told him. "I'm supposed to fuss." He chuckled slightly and waited patiently until I'd finished dealing with his hair and had put it back up in its ponytail.

"So, what's Akatsuki like?" I asked him. He shrugged.

"We don't really meet up much. There's eight of us currently, not including Madara who likes to stay in the shadows. All we do is small things, stealing, the occasional assassination…" I stiffened. "Don't worry, Mother, I haven't killed anyone." I was confused. "We go round in pairs and my partner's the one that's done all the killing."

"So, who's in Akatsuki?" I asked.

"Me, Pein and Konan from the Rain village, Orochimaru, Kisame Hoshigaki from the Mist village, Kakuzu from the Waterfall village, Zetsu from the Grass village and Sasori from the Sand."

"So which of them are you partnered with?" I asked, dreading the answer. I'd heard of a lot of them, and I didn't want my son mixing with ANY of them, truth be told.

"Kisame." I nearly breathed a sigh of relief. True, he was vicious and very strong, but at least it wasn't Orochimaru… "I ought to be going soon," he said. "I told Kisame that I wouldn't be long."

"Does he know where you are?" I asked. He shook his head.

"No."

"Going so soon?" Tsunami asked.

"I have to."

I smiled and put my arms around him briefly.

"Off you go then," I said. "Next time you come I'll have something for you."

He stood, nodded, and left.

I spent the next few months creating a medicine for Itachi's disease. It wasn't perfect, but it meant that he wouldn't have to slip away from the Akatsuki so often to see me. He came to collect it a few months after I had finished it.

* * *

The next few years passed without much incident. Itachi visited every so often and, although his condition was still worsening, he was deteriorating much slower than I'd expected. My boy was strong.

One day, I brought Inari a pet dog. Just a small one, but he loved it so much. But that dog, later on, became the cause of suffering for my family.

Inari came home one day from walking Pochi without the dog, and accompanied by a man called Kaiza. It transpired that Akane, a young bully, had stolen and tried to drown Pochi. Inari had tried to rescue his beloved dog, but couldn't swim and so nearly drowned. Pochi ran off and we never saw him again.

Kaiza quickly became part of our family, and the local hero. He married Tsunami and became Inari's adopted father, and saved the village from the tidal waves. Everything was fine. Until Gatō came. Gatō was a tyrant who tried to crush the village. He controlled all the ships. Kaiza tried to stand up against him, but was executed in public. It broke my cousins. Itachi visited during this time, and had to stop me from following in Kaiza's footsteps.

"I'm a Jounin!" I told my son. "I can deal with this."

"Mother, **no**," Itachi said. "You may be a Jounin, but you're retired, out of practise, and outnumbered. Calm down and just think rationally about the situation."

Tsunami, Tazuna and Inari joined their pleas with his, and eventually I gave in. I wanted to protect my family, but all I could do was be a spectator as the village was crushed.

Then Tazuna began to build the bridge. He gathered volunteers and rallied against Gatō to try and give the village hope. Occasionally, Gatō attacked, but he always chose the time when Itachi, who was visiting more and more frequently, was there. Somehow, he managed to disperse the threat without revealing himself. I helped, from time to time, but Itachi was right. I was out of practice. My best skill was healing injuries that the builders sometimes sustained.

Eventually, Tazuna decided that we needed an official ninja bodyguard to defend ourselves. He talked at great length about it with me and Itachi, who would both have to stay away while the ninja were here. We decided that Itachi would just have to stay away for a few months, and I'd have to live in a different house and use a disguise whenever I went out. The nearest village that we felt that we could trust was the Leaf village, which was why so many precautions were needed. Finally, we were sorted and Tazuna left to get help. I travelled with him through Gatō's territory but didn't quite go to the gates of the Leaf village, instead turning back and returning to the Land of Waves where I moved into a different, smaller, house. All the villagers were told that Itachi and I were secrets that the visiting ninja were not to find out about.

A day later, I caught a glimpse of the ninja that Tazuna had hired. I was only expecting Genin, as, although I had lots of money from my clan, we'd agreed that it was best if we made it appear as though the entire village was very poor. But I wasn't expecting these ninja. Tazuna was carrying a clearly worn out Kakashi – wasn't he ANBU? – and was accompanied by a pink haired kunoichi I didn't know, Naruto – the nine tail's host – and… I choked in surprise. The fourth ninja was none other than my own son, Sasuke. Immediately, I was glad that we'd gone to the precautions that we had. In disguise, I followed them, taking in the appearance of my youngest son. Only a few days previously I'd been with Itachi, and now Sasuke was here. At least I knew that he had graduated from the academy, even though he was only a Genin. I saw him turn around and looked away, walking over to Ageha and giving her some money to buy her next meal. I hated being rich when everyone else was so poor. When I looked back at Sasuke, I saw that he was looking at me. I nodded politely, wishing that I could run up to him and hug him.

"Come on, Sasuke," the pink haired kunoichi said, tugging on his sleeve. Reluctantly, my son walked away, still looking at me. Worried, I looked at my disguise. It was intact. I changed my disguise and walked past them.

"Why were you staring at that lady?" the kunoichi asked.

"She was looking at me," he said. "And she'd been following us since we entered the village." I thought that I'd better 'introduce' myself, using the alias that we'd agreed on. Once out of sight, I transformed into my normal disguise and walked up to them. Sasuke glared at me.

"Stop following us," he said. I was taken aback by the ferocity of his words. He'd changed a lot in five years. I knew that I had to say something, but I wasn't sure what.

"I was just wondering what exactly our village's meagre money had bought," I said. "You're not quite what I expected."

"Who are you?" the kunoichi asked. "I'm Sakura Haruno, and this is Sasuke Uchiha. The blonde boy over there is Naruto Uzumaki and our sensei is Kakashi Hatake."

"I'm Maori Sagi," I said, using the alias Tsunami and I had come up with. "Pleased to meet you, Sakura, Sasuke." Sakura smiled at me – I remembered her now, she was one of the girls that Sasuke always used to complain about when he came home. It didn't look like he was any more tolerant of her now than he was then, according to my mother's instinct – and Sasuke 'hnned'. He hadn't changed as much as I'd initially thought; he'd fashioned himself a mask to hide the pain he still bore. I watched the Genin enter my house and I walked away, towards my temporary residence.

* * *

The next day I met Tsunami in the village in the grocery. She had guessed that Sasuke was my son, although she'd remembered to keep quiet. She hadn't even told him that she was his cousin, although I wondered if Sasuke had figured out that we were related; after all, we did look similar. She told me that while they were travelling back from the Leaf village they had encountered a missing-nin, Zabuza Momochi, who had been taken care of by a Mist ANBU. I was suspicious when she said that the body had been taken away, but I kept that to myself. Provided Kakashi hadn't lost his touch, he would come to the same conclusions as me anyway. It filled me with dread to think of my youngest child fighting such famous ninja.

I asked where they were currently and she said that they were resting. Kakashi still hadn't woken up, to their concern, but I wasn't surprised. I told Tsunami that he had the Sharingan, our kekkei genkai, but because he wasn't an Uchiha he didn't have the stamina to use it for very long. There was nothing to worry about. That news made her far happier and she said that Tazuna had mentioned the Sharingan. I asked if Sasuke had awakened it yet, but she didn't know.

Inari came running, saying that Kakashi was waking up, and she left hurriedly. It wouldn't do for the hostess to not be present to properly greet her guests. I wished I could go with her, but I had to settle for paying for my own groceries and heading to Giichi's house.

* * *

The next few days passed. I occasionally caught a glimpse of the leaf ninja, but never spoke with them. Tsunami told me that they were splitting their time between training, and once they had mastered that, protecting Tazuna on the bridge. Today, I was told that all of them had finally passed their training and were going to be guarding Tazuna, with the exception of Naruto, who had passed out due to exhaustion. Knowing what I did about him, I didn't expect that to last, and told Tsunami so. She laughed but later I was proved right.

The next thing I noticed was Inari banging on Giichi's door, demanding that we go to the bridge with him and fight. I was happy to do so, but Giichi wasn't and so it took a lot of persuasion on my part to convince him, by which time Inari had left. Giichi decided to scrounge what weapons he could while I ran round all the other houses, gathering up all the villagers, who were somewhat more willing to cooperate when faced with a fully trained Jounin as opposed to a young boy. We came to the decision that we couldn't let Inari go on his own and so gathered around Tsunami's house. Tsunami was trying her hardest to stop him but ended up accompanying us. We arrived just in time to stop the thugs hired by Gatō from attempting to raid our village, and we managed to drive them off.

I looked round and saw Sasuke being supported by Sakura - he was pierced in many places by senbon needles and it took all my self control not to run over to him. Zabuza was dead, as was another young boy – probably the fake ANBU. The child had been stabbed with what I recognised as Kakashi's lightning blade.

I walked with Inari and Tsunami to Tazuna and the other ninja. My medical side refused to stay silent and so I ended up healing all the scrapes and other injuries that the four ninja had sustained. Kakashi questioned me thoroughly as to how I was able to use medical ninjutsu and I confessed that I had trained as a ninja, but claimed that I only specialised in healing arts and so was no match for Gatō and his men. He accepted it, although Naruto scolded me about how I should have done what I could anyway, until Kakashi told him to shut up. Sasuke stayed silent, and I was certain that he saw through my lies, although he still didn't know who I was.

They buried Zabuza and the boy – Haku – that evening. There was little else for them to do, and the bridge was soon finished. I couldn't help but laugh when, as they left, Tazuna named the bridge 'The Great Naruto Bridge'. It was one step further along Naruto's path to becoming Hokage one day.

* * *

The very next day, Itachi returned. I was convinced that he had been waiting for the other ninja to leave, his timing was so precise.

"How are you, Mother?" he asked. "I see that Gatō and his men are nowhere to be seen." He looked at the bridge and his eyes widened slightly in surprise. "The Great Naruto Bridge? Was Naruto one of the ninja that came?" he asked. I nodded.

"Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura Haruno – remember the little pink haired girl Sasuke hated so much? – were our leaf ninja," I informed him. He seemed quite shocked that his little brother had been here, but he soon shrugged it off, more interested in what had happened. I told him all I knew – which was less than I would have liked but, only being a 'civilian', it would have been suspicious if I had been present during the actual fight. He asked after Sasuke's Sharingan, but I didn't know if he'd awakened it.

"He awoke it that night," Itachi told me, to my surprise. "But I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't remember doing so." I smiled at that. Fugaku would have been proud to know that both his sons had awakened their kekkei genkai at such young ages. I didn't mention this though. I knew that, years later, the mission was a sore spot for my son, even though he had been the one to bring it up. I wouldn't say more than necessary until he had come to terms with it – if he ever did.

We continued to talk, while I treated him to the best of my ability. Despite the medication and his occasional visits, his health was steadily declining. All I could do was prolong it as much as possible.

Inari entered the room and immediately asked if Sasuke was who he thought he was. We nodded, glad that Inari had had the sense to not say a word until the leaf ninja had left. He laughed and then treated us to an account of the ninja's stay in his house. He was full of praise for Naruto, I noticed, and gave us detailed stories of the rivalry between the Kyuubi's host and my youngest son. Itachi smiled, happy that his younger brother had a friend, even if they seemed to maintain that they hated each other. There wasn't much time before Itachi had to go, saying that he'd pay his respects to the dead ninja on his way. I walked with him to the graves on the hillside, before leaving as I detected a presence approaching – one I assumed to be Kisame.

Itachi didn't visit again for a long time. The time period concerned me. He had been okay last time I'd seen him, but, strong though he may be, he wasn't immortal, nor as healthy as he once was. Tsunami told me not to worry – he was probably too caught up in the doings of Akatsuki to visit, but she was sure that as soon as he got the time, he would.

She was right. Eighteen months after the Gatō incident, he returned. This time however, he wasn't alone. There had been a knock on the door, and when I went to open it I saw Itachi leaning on another man, wearing the same style cloak. His blue skin, pointed teeth and bandaged sword told me immediately that he was none other than Kisame Hoshigaki. It was only my Jounin training that stopped me from freezing. Instead I reached for my son, hoping that Itachi had explained who I was when I realised that he'd passed out. Kisame reached for his sword and I stopped.

"Why are you here?" I asked, looking at my son with some concern.

"Itachi told me that he needed to come here," the big shinobi replied. He was studying me carefully, as if to assess the threat I posed. I didn't know what conclusion he drew – I certainly knew that if necessary I could probably hold my ground for a while – after Gatō I had begun to train again. "Why?" I chose my words carefully. I didn't know how much Itachi had told his partner so I played safe.

"I'm his medic," I said.

"This isn't a land with a hidden village," he countered.

"I don't hail from here," I answered. This exchange seemed likely to go on for a while, and would have done if Itachi hadn't regained consciousness.

"Kisame," he said weakly – a sound that tugged at my heart. He attempted to straighten and walk towards me, but I was having none of it. Now that he was awake I felt safer approaching the rogue ninja, so I did so and claimed my son, ready to draw a kunai from my hidden pouch if needs be. At a look from Itachi, Kisame relinquished his hold, causing Itachi to lean on me instead.

"Tsunami!" I called as I helped my son enter the house. She looked up and immediately called for Inari to help her. Kisame entered behind me. I wasn't happy with a dangerous criminal in the house – Itachi didn't count – but I didn't want to fight. I lowered Itachi onto the futon that was quickly prepared and immediately inspected him. "What happened?" I demanded of Kisame as I treated his illness. If he was going to be here, he was going to be of use. Itachi started to answer but I looked at him and he immediately silenced.

"I don't know," the big man said. "He was fine – we were walking away from the hideout, then his Sharingan deactivated and he fainted." Sharingan _**de**_activated? I was going to have words with my son.

"No fights? No chakra being used aside from his Sharingan?" I fixed Itachi with a stare as I named our kekkei genkai and he paled. If Kisame noticed he didn't say anything.

"Nothing," he said. I frowned. Something here wasn't right and I was determined to find out what.

"Who are you?" he asked. I didn't speak. He shifted and Itachi's Sharingan blazed briefly. It was an unspoken warning to his comrade, who heeded it with no complaint, just curiosity. "Why here, Itachi?" he asked. "I know several medics in contact with Akatsuki who were far closer." Itachi made to reply and I silenced him with a look.

"You can talk after you've recovered enough," I informed him. "And no more Sharingan." He had the grace to look away.

"How much chakra does the Sharingan require?" Kisame asked, curiously. I answered.

"For an Uchiha, not much, but if they're already weakened it can be enough to cause blackouts," I said. I was going to need to strengthen the medication if Itachi couldn't even handle his kekkei genkai for long.

"How do you know?" he asked me suspiciously.

"I'm Itachi's medic." I reminded him. "It's my job to know." He sighed.

"I heard Zabuza met his end here," he commented. "I'm going to take a look around." Itachi fixed him with a look that echoed his previous one, only this time without the Sharingan. "Don't worry – I won't do anything," he hastily assured us. I suppressed a smile. Itachi had this ninja completely under control. He left and I activated my Sharingan, checking for his chakra. He'd been true to his word. Deactivating my kekkei genkai, I turned to my son.

"You shouldn't keep your Sharingan activated constantly," I scolded. "Your body can't take the continuous strain on your chakra any more."

"I need to," he countered. "The more weakness I show the less respect I am afforded from the other nins. Any weak links are exploited and killed."

"Kisame knows that you can't keep it active!" I said, desperate. "Can't you just keep it active when you meet with the others?" He shook his head.

"Zetsu checks up on us randomly. If he notices that my Sharingan isn't active much then he'll report it." I felt like screaming in frustration.

"And frequently passing out won't classify as weakness?" I demanded. "You are to use your Sharingan only when absolutely necessary and that is final." I locked gazes with him, determined to get my message across. After a moment he looked away.

"I will do what I can," he said softly. I sighed, knowing that that was the best answer I was going to get. I embraced him.

"Be careful," I begged. "I don't want to lose you. I still have Sasuke, but it isn't the same." At his brother's name he flinched.

"What?" I snapped, suddenly terrified that something had happened to my baby.

"He's joined Orochimaru," Itachi told me. "I'm sorry, Mother." It hit me like a ton of bricks and I reeled backwards.

"W-what?" I gasped. "That snake bastard!" I cursed. Itachi jumped and I realised that he'd never heard me speak like that before. "He can't have him! I'll go-"

"No you won't," Itachi cut me off. "You're powerful, but Orochimaru is one of the Sanin. Even you wouldn't stand a chance against him. Let Sasuke do what he can. He's safe for two years before Orochimaru turns on him, and in that time he'll be getting stronger and stronger. He'll be fine." Then, to my surprise, he embraced me back. That was when I realised. Itachi blamed himself for his brother's defection. I didn't understand why, but realised that I probably didn't want to know.

The door opened and Kisame entered, pausing in shock when he saw our embrace.

"Itachi?" he asked, puzzled. Itachi surreptitiously wiped the beginnings of some tears on my shoulder as he turned to look at his partner.

"This is my mother, Kisame," he said. The big ninja looked no less confused.

"I thought she was dead," he commented. Itachi shook his head. I was astounded. Why was Itachi revealing such personal information that could see both of us dead in the wrong hands? Then I realised. He was giving Kisame a reason to bring him here if he ever collapsed, and when the inevitable occurred, the big man would serve as the messenger. Itachi was placing a lot of trust in this man. Kisame also seemed to realise this, as he nodded slightly.

"Well that explains why you came here for treatment," he said, grinning. "Less likely to stab you in the back."

"Needless to say, we cannot remain here long," Itachi said. I understood, but that didn't make me any happier about it. I walked over to my herbal supply and began to mix a stronger dose of his medicine. Kisame watched me, then turned to Itachi.

"You're ill," he said. It wasn't a question. Itachi nodded.

"It's terminal," he replied quietly. "Mother says I don't have long to live."

"Why are you prolonging your life with medicines then?" Kisame asked. "You don't fear death."

"I have things still to do with my life," he murmured. I looked up sharply and looked at him. One look at his face and I knew exactly what he wanted.

"You can't do that," I protested.

"I have to," he said. As always, he didn't ask how I knew what he planned. "It's the only way to end it." He was right. But that didn't mean I had to like it. I had to do my duty as a mother and let my sons do what they needed to, and keep my personal feelings buried deep.

As soon as I had finished the medicine and had given it to my son, he and Kisame stood and headed for the door. They bid myself and my cousins goodbye and left. The short visit hurt, but I understood that minimal contact was best now, especially now that Orochimaru had my youngest son and Itachi was determined to save him. Helplessness once again engulfed me – something that I was growing used to despite my training. I was getting older and less able to take on the powerful shinobi that were threatening my family. All I could do was wait and hope I'd see at least one of my sons alive again.

The next two years passed quietly, with brief, irregular contact with Itachi, who was now usually accompanied by Kisame. I pressured them for news of Sasuke every time but all that they would tell me was that he was getting more and more powerful under Orochimaru's tutelage. It hurt to see Itachi deteriorating in front of my eyes but there was nothing more I could do for him.

Inari came tearing inside one day, while Itachi and Kisame were here, gasping about how he'd seen Sasuke with someone else by Zabuza's grave. All three of us reacted with shock. At the description of my son's companion we all relaxed slightly – it wasn't Orochimaru and that could only mean one thing – Orochimaru was dead. This was confirmed when Itachi and Kisame were called into an Akatsuki meeting and Zetsu confirmed that Sasuke had killed him. I wasn't comfortable with the knowledge that my youngest son had killed, but I was very glad that he was no longer under the influence of that wicked man. At this news Itachi returned his medicine to me.

"I won't need this any more," he said quietly. Kisame wisely left as I broke down, pulling my oldest son into my embrace and I cried my eyes out. It had been several years, but I still wasn't ready to lose him. Nonetheless, the time had come. Itachi held me as I cried, and through my own tears I realised that he was crying too. Not for himself – he'd never feared death – but for me and my future without him. No parent should outlive their child and I was going to experience first hand why this was so. Tsunami entered and was quickly made aware that this was the last time we would see him again – alive, at least. Whether or not his body would be returned to us we did not know. My cousin insisted that he stay for at least one night and he couldn't refuse – he owed us that much. A proper goodbye this time. A final goodbye.

That night I spent talking with my son relishing the last moments with him. Sleep was kept at bay for both of us as Itachi told me what he had planned to do ever since the death of our clan. I'd known for a long time, but it was good for him to let it out, to physically tell him that he wanted to die by his brother's hand – a final redemption.

It was a tearful departure the next morning. Itachi stood stiffly, keeping back his tears and the entire family tightly embraced him. Kisame had wandered off to Zabuza's grave to give us some final privacy – Itachi was to meet him there on the way out. I redid Itachi's ponytail, removing his slightly wonky headband to give his forehead a kiss before replacing it, perfectly straight. He smiled weakly at me and then he was gone. I watched his retreating back for as long as I could before melting into Tsunami's arms and sobbing for the death of my son.

The weeks and months after that were spent waiting for the news. Waiting to be told that he was gone, that he was happy at last. All our hopes rested on Kisame telling us. Eventually, several months later, the blue-skinned ninja appeared on the door and held out my son's headband for me.

"He's gone," he said. I took hold of the protector and held it tightly, thanking him for telling me. "Sasuke knows the truth," he added. I looked at him in shock. "Madara Uchiha told him." It didn't surprise me that he was still alive, or that he would know the exact circumstances of Itachi's life. "But not about you." I smiled weakly. We'd managed to keep that much a secret at least. He left and I was left standing in the door with nothing but my son's headband to remember him by.

When the Hidden Villages all went to war, some time later, I joined the ranks of the Leaf ninja, unnoticed by all save Tsunade. No-one else knew who I was because I was kept in the medi-tent, tending to the injured with other medi-nin who had never seen me before, or were too young to remember. The war waged for a long time and there was many a ninja that we failed to save.

Once the war was over I walked over to where I could see Sasuke standing with his teammates. Everything was over now – the espionage, the deception.

"Sasuke," I called. He turned to face me in shock, recognition written all over his face. His Sharingan blazed as he tried to decipher the genjutsu, but there was none to dispel.

"Mikoto?" Sakura asked, surprised. She had worked with me in the tents. "How do you know Sasuke?"

"I'm his mother," I said. "Saved by Itachi years ago and hidden away to see my sons grow up into fine shinobi. Both of them." Sasuke abandoned his stoic posture and ran to me.

"It's really you!" he said, reminding me of the little boy I left behind years ago.

"Yes," I said, pulling him into an embrace. "I'm here."

**And it's finished. This has taken me several years to write and I've tried to keep it as canon-compliant as possible.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Tsari**


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